A lesson (in love)
by klayn
Summary: Another prompt fic! An anon prompted "Jealous knights beat up Merlin, and Arthur becomes protective when he learns about this". Or sth like that.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin quietly closed the door to Arthur's chambers, and started walking back to his own, a slight limp in his step. He made sure to be quiet, as it was quite late at night, and even though he was the King's unofficial consort, he was also still a servant, and could be punished by people of rank in Camelot if he pissed them off.

Merlin was so lost in his thoughts of how well Arthur had fucked him tonight that it took him a while to realize that he was being followed. He turned around to see the some of the newer knights following him, their faces set in grim expressions. Merlin felt a shiver of fear course down his spine, and turned back around and started to walk faster. The knights, however, increased their pace, and quickly caught up with him, one of them grabbing his shoulder and pulling him to a stop.

"H-hello, sirs," said Merlin shakily. "To what do I owe this honor?"

"You need to stop this," said one.

"Stop what?" asked Merlin.

"Stop your relationship with the King," the same knight replied. "Or else this is going to seem like a love tap compared with what we'll do to you."

Before Merlin could ask *what* would be a love tap, he felt his arms and legs being held to the wall by a few of the knights, and then the others started punching him.  
When the knights were done beating him up, the let go of him, and he slumped to the floor, whimpering in pain.

He wasn't sure how long he lay there, but eventually the pain lessened enough for him to get up and finish the walk back to his rooms, limping for an entirely different reason.

* * *

When Merlin woke up, his whole body felt like one massive bruise- and it might well be; the knights had administered quite the beating. Groaning, he climbed out of bed and got dressed, his movements slow and careful to avoid any more pain. He looked out the window and realized that he could take the time to brew a solution to heal the pain, or be on time with Arthur's breakfast.

In the end, he hobbled his way to the kitchens, wincing every time he took a step, and made it to Arthur's chambers just in time. He held Arthur's breakfast on one arm as he opened the door, and walked over as quickly as possible to the table to put it down, then walked over to Arthur's bed.

Arthur was stretched out, his body and face utterly breathtaking in the morning light. Merlin felt tears welling up in his eyes as he remembered that he could no longer partake in the glory of Arthur, and quickly wiped his eyes. He forced a cheerful smile onto his face and reached down to shake Arthur's shoulder. "Wake up, Sire," he said.

Arthur slowly opened his eyes and stretched, his blankets slipping down and exposing more of his sculpted abs. He sat up, and a smile lit up his face. "Ah. Merlin, come here," he said.

Merlin felt torn. On the one hand, Arthur and the promise of his bed was so tempting, but the pain in his body reminded him of the consequences of going to bed with Arthur. Arthur noticed Merlin's indecision and asked, "Merlin, what's wrong?"

"Um..."

Arthur reached out and grasped Merlin's arm firmly, and Merlin couldn't suppress his hiss of pain. Arthur loosened his grip on Merlin's arm, reaching down for his jacket sleeve and pulling it up to reveal a large, blueish-purple bruise. "Merlin."

"Yes, Sire?"

"Who did this to you?"

"I don't know their names," said Merlin in a rush. "They're some of the newer knights, but I don't know their names. They said that if I didn't end my relationship with you, they'd beat me up even more."

Arthur's face became angrier and angrier as Merlin continued talking. When Merlin finished speaking, there was a few seconds of silence, broken by Merlin's "Sire? Are you alright?"

"No," growled Arthur. "They touched you. They *dared* to touch what was mine, and they tried to order me to let you go. This is unacceptable!" he shouted. "I want you to- no, scratch that. I'm going to make an announcement," he said. "Anybody who so much as touches you will deal with me."

"Th-thank you, Arthur," said Merlin.

Arthur's expression softened, and he smiled. "Now come here," he said. "I'm giving you the day off today, so you can recover."

"Can I recover in here?" asked Merlin cheekily. "You do have a really comfortable bed..."


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur strode through the corridors to the throne room, his expression furious. He may have put on a cheerful face for Merlin, but inside he was seething. Whoever the knights were that had beaten Merlin up, they would pay- not just because they hurt his beloved, but because they had indirectly hurt *him*.

When he got to the throne room, he had a servant go and get the newer knights, who arrived after a few minutes. When they arrived, he spent a while glaring at them while they shifted nervously in place. Finally, he stood up, and started talking. "As all of you probably know by know, my manservant Merlin and I are together," he said. "And last night, after Merlin left to go to his chambers, some of you beat him up. He said that you would beat him up more if he continued his relationship with me. Now, here's the thing- there are two people in a relationship. In this case, Merlin is one member, but *I* am the other member, and by telling him to end our relationship, you're also ordering YOUR KING to do something."

He looked around and was grimly satisfied to see several of the knights blanching. Clearly they hadn't considered that last night.

"For now, I'm going to assume you didn't mean to do that, because if you did, I could, oh, relieve you of your knighthood. You are knights of Camelot, and it shames me that you would use your strength to bully and harass people," he said.

"That's all for now," he said finally. "Go, and remember- Merlin is *mine*."

* * *

Should I continue this?


	3. Chapter 3

At around lunchtime, Merlin was starting to feel well enough to go and get lunch. He walked slowly down to the kitchens to get lunch for himself and Arthur.

When he was coming back, he again heard people following him. Anger rose in him, and he picked up his pace until he reached a table, where he set down the lunches, and turned around to see the knights that had beaten him up last night following him again. "Gentlemen," he said. "Nice seeing you again."

"You told the King," said one. "You're going to pay for that."

"I don't think so," replied Merlin.

The knight smirked. "And what are you going to do?"

"This," said Merlin, and his eyes flashed gold as the knights were thrown through the air.

Merlin turned back around and picked up the lunches, and made his way back to Arthur's chambers, smiling.

* * *

Arthur and Merlin were cuddling together in bed after an hour of pleasuring each other. Merlin broke the companionable silence by murmuring, "I used magic against the knights who assaulted me last night."

"Mm," replied Arthur. "Why?"

"I was going to get lunch, and they started following me again. They said I'd pay for telling you."

"Ah."

"Yeah," said Merlin. "Y'know, Arthur...maybe I should become your official consort. That might help with things."

"Maybe," replied Arthur.


	4. AN

Hi everyone

I know I haven't updated anything in a while, and I'm sorry for that. However, in my defense, I was extremely busy with school and life in general.

I will continue updating the following fics: A lesson (in love), Arthur's choice, Pride and Prejudice and BDSM, Reason 17, Watching the videos, Welcome to Camelot, and Yer a wizard Blainey. I promise, I will update them (at some point). It might be a bit until I update, as I'm working on creating a fanvid rn, but I will probably start posting new chapters for these fics within a few weeks.

Have fun,

Miriam


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